RSS
Home
How to benefit from your helicopter parents
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
This article was inspired by the people who send me the most comments – parents of college students and recent graduates. (To everyone trying to forward my articles to your children: You have been using the comments feature on my page. Examiner.com currently does not have a forward feature. Sorry!)
Although Gen Y as a group is accused of being babied by their “helicopter parents,” how can you tell if yours fall into this category? Jennifer Kushell, president and co-founder of ys interactive and ysn.com, offered the following examples:
- They write or heavily edit their kids’ résumés for them.
- They consider it their responsibility to find their kid a job.
- They pull every favor with every business contact they have to find their kids a job.
- They contact potential employers on their kids behalf.
- They attend career fairs with their kids or on their behalf.
- They even show up to interviews with their kids.
This interaction is impacting hiring professionals in many ways as Gen Y begins to enter the workforce. “Often, they roll their eyes when their boss asks them to do a favor and interview the child of a helicopter parent. Sometimes, they are impacted because they can detect the way a cover letter or résumé is written – it’s almost like doing your child’s homework. However, just as often, the HR person may be a helicopter parent themselves, or a ‘victim’ of the helicopter parent – it’s not just their boss asking them for the favor, but their own friends and family,” said Stephen Viscusi, author of “Bulletproof Your Job.”
Ron Alsop, author of “The Trophy Kids Grow Up,” adds, “I believe that smart companies are trying to strike a proper balance with helicopter parents. They aren't letting parents intrude into the hiring process, but some are inviting parents to visit their offices to see where their children are working. Some also send information about the company and its benefit programs to parents of applicants.”
However, even if your parents are of the helicopter variety, I firmly believe you can use this to your advantage – within reason and without setting off a potential employer. Helicopter parents can help you in the following ways:
1. Conduct research. “Parents can help their millennial children research industries and companies, but parents should not be the ones approaching companies for applications or interviews,” said Alsop.
2. Give honest résumé feedback. “If they received the résumé, would they want to hire you? This exercise might show the parents just how inexperienced Johnny or Suzie is and allow everyone to readjust their expectations,” said Gretchen Neels of Neels & Company, Inc.
3. Pay for professional training and development. “Such training may come in the form of interview coaching or additional academic courses that are relevant to their field of interest,” said Ron Mitchell, CEO and co-founder of GottaMentor.com.
4. Sound off. “Parents can be wonderful sounding boards after the interview process and before job acceptance, asking questions such as, ‘Have you considered the commute time and cost?’” said Dr. Linda Gravett, SPHR, co-author of “Bridging the Generation Gap: How to Get Radio Babies, Boomers, Gen Xers and Gen Yers to Work Together and Achieve More.”
5. Provide networking contacts. “In the job market, contacts are the currency. Parents, helicopter or not, can be helpful when their kids are trying to build their network of contacts. If a parent can offer four or five colleagues or family friends willing to meet with their son or daughter, then the goal should be to get each of those contacts to provide several more contacts. Eventually, if the job seeker has what it takes, a contact of a contact of a contact will yield a job offer,” said Elizabeth Cogswell Baskin, CEO and creative director of Tribe, Inc.
6. Conduct mock interviews. “Conducting mock interviews and providing constructive feedback on what their child can do to make a stronger impression on an interview. This is far better than joining the student at an actual interview,” said Kerry Willard Bray, dean for student development of Daniel Webster College.
7. Review retirement plans (and other benefits). “Gen Y does not fully grasp the terminology and benefits of retirement. Parents can look and compare programs between prospective employers,” said Eric Papp, founder and CEO of Generation Y Results-Based Consulting LLC.
8. Structure the job search. “Since most helicopter parents are somewhat anal-retentive, students can ask for their assistance in developing a thorough, strategic job search plan. Based on job placement statistics from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, less than 50 percent of students have a job upon graduation. However, close to 90 percent have a job around six months out, when that the sense of urgency kicked in. From my experience, those students who were successful in getting a job upon graduation, outside of the cream of the crop, were those who created a structured, task-oriented job search plan and carved out time daily to implement the plan,” said Dr. Robert M. Orndorff, author of “The PITA Principle.”
9. Relieve financial pressures. “Living at home after graduation gives the kid some reprieve from financial pressure, and this buys time for a thoughtful job search. So, if parents can subsidize the job search that way, then that's a terrific help,” said Caroline Ceniza-Levine, partner at SixFigureStart Career Coaching. “And, the kids should reciprocate by letting their parents know about how the search is progressing, particularly keeping them informed of when they might be completing their search and leaving the house!”
10. Provide encouragement. “A helicopter parent is a great cheerleader. Looking for a job can be depressing,” said Dr. Debi Yohn, a counseling psychologist and author of “Parenting College Students: 27 Winning Strategies for Success.”
More About:
Job Search
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
The news today, although likely not surprising, certainly isn’t good. The national unemployment rate is up to 10.2 percent—the highest …
No doubt the economic turbulence over the past year has shifted the way you are viewing your future career. Perhaps you’ve decided to take your …
- AfterCollege
- CampusCareerCenter.com
- CBcampus.com
- CollegeGrad.com
- CollegeJobBank.com
- CollegeRecruiter.com
- Experience, Inc.
- iHipo
- InternshipIN.com
- InternshipPrograms.com
- InternWeb.com
- InternZoo.com
- MonsterTRAK
- One Day, One Internship
- One Day, One Job
- Quarterlife
- ROCS College Student Staffing
- Think Intern
- YouIntern.com
- 150 Best Recession-Proof Jobs
- 200 Best Jobs for College Graduates
- 301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions
- Bad Bosses, Crazy Coworkers & Other Office Idiots
- Bulletproof Your Job
- Campus Calm University
- Career Boot Camp
- Career Building
- CAREEREALISM
- Claim That Job
- College Students: DO THIS! GET HIRED!
- Cover Letter Magic
- Dig Your Job
- First-Job Survival Guide
- From Graduation to Corporation
- Gen Y Meets the Workforce
- Get The Job You Want, Even When No One's Hiring
- Getting from College to Career
- Grad to Great
- Grindhopping
- Happy About My Resume
- Highly Effective Networking
- How'd You Score that Gig?
- Job Search Bloopers
- Launch!...Get That First Paycheck In 90 Days
- Me 2.0
- Monster Boss
- Navigating Newbie-ism
- No More Ramen
- Plugged In
- Ramen Noodles, Rent and Résumés
- Reality Check
- Smart Networking
- Start Your Own Business and Hire Yourself
- Tell Me About Yourself
- Ten Minutes to the Job Interview
- The Career Coward's Guide to Career Advancement
- The Career Coward's Guide to Interviewing
- The Career Coward's Guide to Job Searching
- The Career Coward's Guide to Resumes
- The College to Career Road Map
- The High Achiever's Secret Codebook
- The Job Coach for Young Professionals
- The Nonprofit Career Guide
- They Don't Teach Corporate in College
- When Reality Hits
- Work With Me
- Working for You Isn't Working for Me
- You're Hired
- Your Dream Job Game Plan
